Left in Tucson

While walking into the livingroom to turn off the lights the other night, Jim saw this little guy in the middle of the livingroom floor. Jim's finger is actually pointing at the back-end. Yes, that is it's true color, no, he is not covered with lipstick or fingernail polish...  This is a fully-growed western blind snake, they eat ants and termites.. and, Jim did have a talk with him to let him know this year's review and pay raise would not be favorable...  He turned him loose under the prickly-pear, hoping that he'll not be stepped-on or molested there.  Then realized that he had killed all the termites and ants there a year ago... darn. So glad we don't have scorpions, pack rats, or many rattlesnakes here... (Jim did see a small western diamondback sunning on the shoulder of the road in front of the house a few weeks ago)... at least the coyotes are too big to crawl under the door and just too lazy to jump the wall and ge...

It was a glorious spring morning when Ky O'Tee, the Sabino Canyon Coyote,  rubbed his eyes and awoke from his night's sleep in his cozy den in the Tucson desert. Ky's den is tucked away in  the Catalina Mountain Range in Sabino Canyon, along a gentle stream.  The stream is not much more than a dry river bed for most of the year.  A dry river or stream is also known as a wash by those who dwell in the desert.  But when the summer rains,  known as Monsoons, roll in and bring heavy rain and strong winds, the wash turns into a  raging river of water that just as quickly returns to a quiet stream when the rain stops.  Ky's den sits high above the wash and never gets flooded when the rains come. Ky awoke to the sounds of birds chirping, doves cooing, quail twittering.  All  his feathered neighbors had recently returned from a winter spent in Mexico and South America where the weather is warmer than the desert in winter. The Tucson deser...

http://www.kold.com/story/14736085/cont Chuck George, Tucson's No. 1 Meteorologist, says it is a hoax.  You decide.

Lately, I have been reading and hearing about this huge increase in charitable giving by a new generation of entrepreneurs as well as by America's well-known most wealthiest citizens. Everyone seems to be anxious to get on this latest of bandwagons, fostering green technologies to save our planet and improve the quality of life for many in emerging economies.  Call me jaded or cynical, but I wonder, is this just media pandering or an honest to goodness desire to improve our world? This got me thinking about Andrew Carnegie, the 19th century industrialist and a pioneer in philanthropy as we have come to know it. According to my research, he gave away $350 million, nearly 90 percent of the fortune he accumulated through the railroad and steel industries.    When I was growing up, my local library was always a very special place to me. It was where my friends and I would ride our bikes to take refuge on a hot summer day. Living in what would today be called "Exurbi...

Summer time in Tucson A great time to visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

Learn more about Roosevelt Lake Learn more about Roosevelt Dam Historic Apache Trail While everyone else was celebrating Mother's Day, Jim and I took to the road and headed northeast of Tucson to visit Theodore Roosevelt Lake and Dam.  The trip took us from Oracle through some spectacular desert and mountain terrain onto the old mining town of Globe.  Roosevelt Lake and Dam are a 45-minute drive north of Globe.  The Lake, situated in Tonto National Monument (Park), offers boat rentals, boat slips, camp sites, hiking and fishing.  You can pick up the historic Apache Trail on the back side of the dam and head onto Apache Junction while experiencing another view of Arizona not many get to enjoy.  Be sure to stop off in Globe for a hearty meal at Jerry's in the center of town.  Jim rates their chocolate cream pie a 4-star winner.  Take a stroll through the old downtown area with its original store fronts offering an eclectic array of  goods and s...

The spring months are a great time to hike the mountain trails surrounding Tucson.  The desert is in full bloom, the air is sweet with the smell of the Acacia trees.  It has been a very dry spring so the wildflowers have not been as prolific and the desert poppies have gone missing this year.  The Prickly Pears and Saguaro cactus blooms are doing their best to make up for any bloom deficiencies. We were fortunate enough to spot a rattlesnake keeping cool under a rock ledge and a Horned Toad ("Great Horny Toads!") so far this season.